Does Hero of Irdya have some explanation about how the drakes got their weapons electro-plated? And why the silver drakes have gold plating?

The Council of Silver Drake Kings wield Draconian Steel Weapons...weapons made from a special ore mined from deep within Firecloud Peak and enchanted by their god, the Fire King (A godlike dragon with magical powers). Draconian Steel is gold-like in appearance and its weapons are far deadlier than Dwarven Weapons.Due to the current on-going story plot revisions, I am not even sure if they will be allies or not.

Cool! Can't wait 'till I have time to play it!

Vulpine wrote:The idea for the Beacon is that he'll be literally on fire (he has 100% resistance to fire), and have the illuminates ability in addition to leadership the current flames are not final. Any suggestions on the weapons? I kinda like the blades he's got, but don't think a simple up-size will do. Feedback on these two points are the only thing I need right now (unless you have some advice on the chest; I didn't quite like the armor that The_Gnat referenced. It's fine armor, but not quite what I had in mind. Thanks regardless!)

I understand if you didn't feel like reading all of that, I'm just reminding you that I know that his torso needs more work; I was having trouble figuring something out that would distinguish him from the level 3 unit, and wanted to bounce the idea off somebody (Looking back on my post I realize I wasn't very clear about it.)

I'll have to remember to Electroplate the blades! Burningheart is a good name. The reason I came up with Beacon was because he would literally be a beacon.

"As night fell, the hordes of (insert chaotic race here) swarmed over the valiant drakes, overwhelming them. The survivors of the onslaught, brave though they may be, turned tail and fled.One flameheart, seeing how the tide had turned, became so enraged that all sense fled. Finding a flask of oil he poured it on himself. A few sparks from his nostrils and he was lit bright as a signal beacon.The light drew the attention of his fleeing comrades, who watched as he charged alone into the midst of the advancing horde. Inspired by this act of courageous defiance, several of the more valiant drakes rushed to his side, determined to die bathed in the blood of their foes.The hordes were taken completely by surprise. Sensing this, the remaining drakes turned and fell upon them, rallying to what they perceived to be a manifestation of their god, a beacon in the night."

Yeah, so if you made it this far, thanks for the c&c. The sprite is still under development, so your ideas really are appreciated, despite my specifications.

One foot in my mouth, and one in the grave; that's the way I like it, and that's the way it'll stay.Also the author of Elvish Incursion, a short little prologue.

Vulpine wrote:Does Hero of Irdya have some explanation about how the drakes got their weapons electro-plated? And why the silver drakes have gold plating?

UMC aside, this is straight from the help entry on drakes:

The encyclopedia wrote:The only technology drakes value is armor- and weapon-smithing, and neither know or need other science and culture besides this. However the few implements they do fashion are almost unrivaled in quality, only matched by those produced in the finest Dwarvish foundries.

Nice work by the way!

The last few months have been nothing but one big, painful reminder that TIMTLTW.

Better idea. Give him flaming warblades! The sudden change in attack-type can be reasonable since the Knight changes from blade melee to arcane melee when advancing to the Paladin. Or, the flaming warblade could be given as a third attack.

A suggestion for the torso: crop the one from the armageddon and change the colours to something a bit more "reddish". The shoulder plates could stay as the flameheart's but add gold-lining around the edge (Like the inferno drake's).

Also, you should check out the Flaming Legion Heavy Armour Set on a Char character in Guild Wars 2. The torso could be based off that model.

About the fire attack: I can add an overlay for the flames/render the sprite both with&without flames, in case somebody wants to use it but doesn't like the idea of extra fire attacks (like me ). Nevertheless, I think you should be the one to choose what your unit will be like (as opposed to the highly opinionated), and I will definitely try to add a fire overlay for you.

I tried the armageddon torso on him, but the angle doesn't fit so I changed it to a gold-plated chainmail... whatever it's called around his neck/chest. I didn't see your suggestion about the guild-wars breastplate until just now, but that seems like a good reference for future attempts.

@Samonella: Thanks! And it's been so long since I've read the race description for the drakes I completely forgot that bit!

So... what areyour opinions on the flame-covered unit? Would it be preferred to a non-burning drake? Or would campaign/era creators prefer an un-barbecued lizard to work with?

Edit: If I were to expand my canvas beyond 72x72, would I just expand it equally in all directions, or would I keep the sprite the same distance from the bottom edge?

One foot in my mouth, and one in the grave; that's the way I like it, and that's the way it'll stay.Also the author of Elvish Incursion, a short little prologue.

I have stopped working on the level 4 drakes, and doubt I will continue. Just so you know there won't be any more from me for a while, unless I become unaccountably "inspired".

Again, these are for anybody that wants them, or wants to tweak them. It would be nice to be able to see where they are going to show up, but definitely not required. The .xcf (gimp) files are also available upon request.

Thank you for the compliments and criticism everybody! Lord-Knightmare, Paulomat4, The_Gnat, Samonella!

One foot in my mouth, and one in the grave; that's the way I like it, and that's the way it'll stay.Also the author of Elvish Incursion, a short little prologue.

Thank you! It is always good to hear that people care when you make something

Personally though i believe the sprites are not even half as good as when you actually have the unit in the game. For example haven't you always wanted to advance your drake burner in northern rebirth to level 5? Now you can! (self promo alert )